A proposed 60-day moratorium would prohibit construction, development, or permitting of data centers, cryptocurrency-mining operations, and associated data-center processing uses.

Data centers are subject to a special-use approval requirement: the owner must obtain a Special Use Permit from the Board of Adjustment before development.

Approval requires a legislative public hearing, planning-board review and comment, and governing-board action adopting or rejecting the zoning text amendment; the Planning Board must act by majority vote.

Principal data-center structures and accessory structures containing cooling, ventilation, generators, or other operating equipment must be at least 500 feet from existing residential or multifamily structures, except for guardhouses at vehicular entrances.

Principal structures must be at least 100 feet from any publicly maintained road and may not exceed 75 feet in height, including roof-mounted equipment.

Data-center sites must meet substantial perimeter setbacks and landscaping buffers: for residential or multifamily abutting uses, a 150-foot building setback and 100-foot buffer; for light commercial, office, or civic uses, 125 feet and 75 feet; for general commercial uses, 100 feet and 50 feet; and for industrial uses, 50 feet and no required buffer, subject to the separate residential-separation rule.

Parking may not be located within a required buffer, and the minimum parking requirement is one paved space per employee on the maximum shift.

Data centers must be enclosed by an at least eight-foot security fence or wall, or by a locked fireproof building, and must provide vegetative screening along street rights-of-way and property lines within 400 feet of residentially used or zoned property.

Data-center operations may not be located within 1,000 feet of an existing or approved public or private school, congregate-care use, or child day-care facility.

Applicants must use permitted exterior building materials such as brick, wood, stucco, sandstone, native stone, tilt-up concrete panels, or CMUs; prefabricated metal and vinyl siding are prohibited, and shipping containers or similar modular containers may house equipment only temporarily.

A comprehensive master plan covering buildings, driveways, parking, fencing, walls, landscaping, and other design elements must be submitted for Technical Review Committee approval; substantial deviations require a new or amended approval.

Applicants must attend a pre-application meeting with planning staff and conduct at least one neighborhood meeting before obtaining permits.

Applications must include detailed area and development plans, recorded plans, setback and site data, landscaping information, a photometric plan, utility-capacity confirmations, and a signed and sealed pre-construction sound study.

Exterior lighting, including security lighting, must be supported by a photometric plan demonstrating that adjoining properties will not be adversely affected.

Non-emergency generator testing is limited to 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.; generators may otherwise operate only for utility disruptions or other emergencies, except for maintenance, testing, or commissioning, and must stop when primary power is restored.

Before construction, the applicant must obtain a third-party licensed acoustic engineer's sound study measuring dBA, dBC, dBZ, and narrow-band or tonal noise along all exterior property lines.

During normal operations, exterior property-line noise may not exceed the documented pre-construction level or 65 dBA, whichever is greater.

The Planning Director may require complaint-based or compliance noise studies at the applicant's expense. Studies are generally limited to two per calendar year, but that limit does not apply when a violation is found; each study confirming a violation carries a $10,000 civil penalty until the violation is abated.

Data centers may not use groundwater, well water, or surface water and must connect to municipal water; the applicant must prove adequate capacity and that the project will not cause more than a 10% maximum cost increase to public water users.

Data centers may not use private septic systems and must connect to a public wastewater reclamation and treatment system, with written confirmation of adequate capacity and treatment capability.

Data centers must be powered primarily by a regional electricity supplier; generators may not be the primary power source, and the applicant must prove adequate electrical capacity without causing more than a 10% maximum cost increase in the immediate area.

A data center that ceases operations for 12 continuous months is considered defunct or abandoned unless the owner provides substantial evidence of an intent to maintain and reinstate operations.

After abandonment, the owner must remove or properly dispose of technological hardware, infrastructure, fuels, and hazardous materials, notify the planning department of the abandonment, and complete hazardous-material remediation within 12 months of the final operating day.

The local government may retain consultants or professional services to review the application, noise study, alternatives, and regulatory compliance, and the applicant must pay the consultant's incurred costs.

Data centers are expressly listed in the zoning use table as a special use, with special requirements identified by footnote 45, rather than being left to case-by-case classification.

The ordinance provides a defined approval route: a pre-application meeting, Technical Review Committee review, zoning and building plan submission, inspections, and issuance of a certificate of occupancy. A special use permit is required, so approval remains subject to Board of Adjustment review.

A conceptual site-plan review by the Technical Review Committee is expressly identified as optional.

An approved comprehensive master plan may be constructed in phases, allowing a data-center development to be built incrementally; substantial deviations require new or amended Technical Review Committee approval.

Existing vegetation may be counted toward the required landscaping standards if it is documented on a licensed professional's landscaping plan.

For sites abutting industrial uses, the landscaping table provides a 50-foot minimum building setback and a zero-foot minimum buffer, subject to the separate requirement concerning proximity to residential or multifamily structures.

Data centers may use generators during utility disruptions and other emergencies, and may operate them for testing, electrical-system maintenance, and commissioning, although routine generator testing is limited to 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.

The ordinance does not apply to data-processing equipment that is incidental and subordinate to an already permitted principal use and serves only that use's on-site operations.

A facility that stops operating for 12 continuous months is not automatically treated as abandoned if the owner provides substantial evidence of an intent to maintain and reinstate operations.

The proposed moratorium would prohibit construction, development, or permitting of data centers, cryptocurrency-mining operations, and associated data-center uses for 60 days.

A Data Center is allowed only in the M-1 Industrial District, including a corresponding Conditional District.

A Data Center must obtain a Special Use Permit approved by the Board of Adjustment before development, and the Board may impose additional conditions.

A Small Data Center, defined as 5,000 to 20,000 square feet of Information Technology Equipment space, is limited to the M-1 Industrial District and must obtain Conditional District zoning with case-by-case review and applicant-consented conditions.

A Micro Data Center, defined as less than 5,000 square feet of Information Technology Equipment space, is limited to the B-4, B-5, and M-1 districts.

Data Center accessory-use structures and related support systems may not exceed 25 percent of the principal Data Center building footprint, excluding an on-site electrical substation from the calculation.

Data Center buildings and accessory structures must be at least 1,000 feet from existing or approved schools, congregate-care facilities, and day-care centers.

Data Center buildings and accessory structures must be at least 500 feet from existing or approved residential structures and certain recorded or approved residential subdivisions.

Principal structures must have at least 75-foot front setbacks and 50-foot side and rear setbacks; principal structures are limited to 75 feet in height and accessory structures to 50 feet, including roof-mounted equipment.

Generator testing during Normal Operations is limited to 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., and generators may otherwise operate only for utility disruptions, emergencies, maintenance, testing, or Commissioning.

Commissioning must be completed within 180 days after issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy unless the Zoning Administrator grants a written extension.

Exterior facades must use specified materials; prefabricated metal and vinyl siding are prohibited, and shipping containers, railroad cars, truck trailers, and other modular containers may not house data equipment.

Exterior lighting must be fully shielded and aimed downward, must not exceed 0.5 footcandles at the site property line, and security lighting beyond entrances and emergency egress points must be motion-activated.

Before a Certificate of Occupancy, the applicant must file an emergency-response pre-incident plan and hazardous-materials inventory, update the inventory annually, and provide secondary containment for all fuel and chemical storage.

The site must be enclosed by a security fence or wall at least eight feet high and must provide at least 25-foot vegetative buffer yards along street rights-of-way and property lines used or zoned for residential purposes.

Parking may not be located within required buffer areas, and cooling, ventilation, generator, and other operating equipment must be screened by buildings, masonry walls, engineered acoustic barriers, or qualifying parapet walls.

A pre-construction sound study by a licensed acoustic engineer is required, including dBA, dBC, dBZ, narrow-band and tonal analyses, a noise contour map, and consideration of existing Data Centers within 1,000 feet.

During Normal Operations, Data Center sound measured at the site property lines may not exceed 65 dBA or the documented pre-construction level if that level is higher.

Post-construction sound studies are required within 90 days after Normal Operations begin at full design load and at least annually thereafter; violations require a mitigation plan within 30 days and implementation within 90 days of approval unless extended.

Process and cooling water may not come from groundwater, wells, or surface water, except for specified irrigation and fire-suppression uses; the facility must use a local or regional water utility or permitted reclaimed water.

Data Centers must use closed-loop cooling and may not use open-loop, once-through, or evaporative cooling systems.

Applicants must obtain written confirmation of adequate water capacity, submit estimated and annual disaggregated water-usage reports, and comply with specified water standards.

Data Centers may not use private on-site wastewater treatment or disposal systems and must connect to a public wastewater reclamation and treatment system.

Applicants must obtain written confirmation of adequate wastewater capacity, comply with sewer-use requirements, and may be required to obtain an Industrial User Pre-Treatment Permit.

Data Centers must be powered primarily by the assigned regional electricity supplier; generators may not be the primary or sustained electricity source.

Owners and operators must submit an Annual Zoning Compliance Certification by January 31 each year, covering items such as setbacks, buffering, noise, water, wastewater, generator use, and hazardous materials.

Failure to obtain the annual certification or cure a noticed deficiency is an ordinance violation, subject to enforcement remedies.

Twelve consecutive months of ceased operations presumptively constitutes abandonment unless substantial evidence shows an intent to maintain and reinstate operations.

A sealed decommissioning plan by an independent North Carolina professional engineer is required with the development application and must be updated upon expansion; after abandonment, removal and disposition must generally be completed within 12 months.

The City may retain consultants to review applications and annual compliance materials, and the applicant or operator must pay reasonable consultant fees, including an advance deposit for estimated application-review costs.

A pre-application meeting with Planning Department staff and at least one neighborhood meeting are required before formal application; the applicant must submit a written report of the neighborhood meeting.

A comprehensive site plan and development application must document proposed buildings, equipment, setbacks, utilities, lighting, noise studies, hazardous materials, water and wastewater capacity, emissions permits or exemptions, and decommissioning plans.

Substantial deviations from an approved plan require Technical Review Committee review and may require a new or amended Special Use Permit; examples include increases exceeding 10 percent in floor area, footprint, or generator count, reduced setbacks or buffers, a changed cooling-system type, or operations that would violate the noise limit.

New Data Center applications determined complete after the specified effective date must comply with SR 44, while an existing lawfully established and operating facility is generally exempt from the new standards unless it enlarges or changes its equipment or operations in specified ways.

The measure expressly allows Data Centers in the M-1 Industrial District, including a corresponding Conditional District, subject to a Special Use Permit rather than leaving their zoning classification uncertain.

Smaller facilities receive additional siting options: Small Data Centers may be located in the M-1 Industrial District with Conditional District zoning, while Micro Data Centers may be located in the B-4, B-5, or M-1 districts.

The measure permits Data Center accessory facilities, including generators, cooling equipment, fuel and chemical storage, water treatment equipment, and security structures, up to an aggregate footprint of 25 percent of the principal Data Center building footprint. An on-site electrical substation is excluded from that cap, subject to setback, buffering, and screening requirements.

After approval of the site plan and Special Use Permit, a Data Center may be constructed in phases.

The measure provides an approved utility pathway by allowing Data Centers to connect directly to local or regional water and wastewater providers, and it permits reclaimed water for process, cooling, or irrigation purposes if supplied by a permitted reclaimed-water system.

The noise standard allows a Data Center's permitted Normal Operations sound level to equal the documented pre-construction sound level when that baseline is higher than 65 dBA. The measure also requires C-weighted and Z-weighted data but establishes no numeric C-weighted or Z-weighted noise limit.

Generators may be used during Commissioning, routine testing, generator or electrical-system maintenance, utility disruptions, and other emergencies. Commissioning may continue for up to 180 days after issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy unless the Zoning Administrator approves an extension.

A facility lawfully established and operating on the effective date may continue operating as it existed without being treated as nonconforming and without obtaining a Special Use Permit, Conditional District zoning, or complying with the new location, dimensional, design, buffering, screening, utility, or decommissioning standards for continued operation.

The annual zoning compliance certification is expressly administrative and does not extend, limit, condition, or otherwise affect the validity of a Special Use Permit or vested rights. A Special Use Permit may be revoked only through the statutory development-review process required for its issuance.

A determination that a Data Center has been abandoned does not itself terminate use rights, nonconforming rights, or vested rights otherwise available under state law.